Which is worse? Bad customer service or no customer service?
At least with no customer service, you are not assaulted with even more reasons to explode.
You simply fume as you once more search for help or abandon the idea.
I have a theory that certain customer service models are designed to wear you out. They want you to give up.
No news is good news, right?
Bad Customer Service
So many examples, so little time
If you follow this blog, you know this is not the first time I’ve written about customer service.
It baffles me how we can make something so basic (who doesn’t need customer service some time?) so complex.
My latest battles carried a common theme. I bet you’ve experienced this one a time or two.
It’s the let’s go back and forth with emails, then ignore all the correspondence and start over routine.
ME: Dear LinkedIn, I received an invitation to connect with a member.
- I click on Accept but each time I sign back in, I have the same invitation to connect.
- Once it appeared to go through but when I try to send her a message, it shows I am not connected.
- The platform is not recognizing when I click on Accept.
LINKEDIN: Please send the url of the member you are talking about.
ME: Please see the attached url of the profile of the person sending the invitation to connect.
LINKEDIN: I see you are a second connection with the member. That is the reason you are not able to message her. You can send her a connection request again.
ME: She sent the connection request to me! Please READ my original ticket message.
I have been caught in similar email roundabouts with my domain carrier, laptop/tablet manufacturer, and on and on.
Believe that “wear you out” theory now?
Finish Strong
Because I try to remain positive, I’ll also share a positive customer service experience.
Department store, Nordstrom, has a reputation for great customer service. My personal experience found it well-earned.
I received a Christmas gift from friends. The item was too large. I did not have a gift receipt but the item did have its original price tags on it.
- I accessed Nordstrom’s site
- Read their return procedure
- Mailed the item with the return form with the pre-paid label provided by Nordstrom
I had to follow up with Nordstrom customer service as the U.S. Postal Service site (don’t even get me started) did not show a status beyond receipt at the Post Office.
Despite the difficulty of tracking the item down (since I did not have the order number), the customer service representative was determined to resolve my problem.
- She thanked me repeatedly for having the tracking number and return form copy
- The return form had the item number of the gift
- She found the order and let me know Nordstrom had received it
The customer service representative updated me on the status (a gift card has been sent).
- I received the order number and the gift card item number
- I was told when to expect receipt of the gift card
- And instructed to call customer service if I did not receive it by a specific date
Yes! Thank you, Nordstrom.
I ask you. Is good customer service really so hard to find? Is bad customer service worse than no customer service?
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Live…Laugh…Love
No surprise we’re in total agreement again, Cathy. A few months ago I was trying to resolve an issue with the phone/internet or cable company (they’re both tend to be so bad at customer service I get them confused). I’d already been in contact with them about an ongoing problem when I had to call in again, but I didn’t have a case number or other shortcut to reach the people I’d been dealing with. When the new rep asked why I was calling I explained it, briefly, then said I knew she wouldn’t be able to resolve the problem so she might as well escalate the call to her superiors.
Instead, she started right back at the beginning, going through her entire script. Guess what? After wasting 20 minutes of my time she escalated the call. The first thing I told the next person: give the first-line reps the ability to move an on-going issue up the food chain without making the customer/subscriber rehash the entire thing yet again. I said, “Wasting people’s time jumping through the same old hoops every time we call doesn’t accomplish anything – unless the goal is to make them even angrier.”
It’s common sense, folks.
Beyond frustrating, isn’t it, Paula? There is so much to be said for empowering front-line representatives to go “off script.” Of course, that means they need the skills and tools to handle the situation – something often overlooked in the customer service world.
Businesses like Nordstrom that “get it” stand out. I appreciate their efforts.
and I’ve had problems with target when I asked two items be shipped to my local store for pickup. They didn’t come at the same time. The first one made me determined never to use that ‘service’ again and I sent an email or responded to a questionnaire detailing why. Next I get a notice that since I failed to pick up the second item it would be returned… yep no notice ever came.
Now the sink strainer I bought from them for $4 is already broken… horrid design… I’m debating if I’ll take it back or not… I used to like Target.
Thanks for the reminder re Nordstrom… even their outlet the Rack has great customer service. So does costco and trader joes… it’s not rocket science. One thing I noticed about the people at target is that they wanted to help… but obviously they are only allowed to do what it says… no creativity or out of the box allowed… so grateful I don’t work there.
Thanks for sharing your stories, Anne and Paula. You are so right, Anne, it is not rocket science. It boggles my mind some of the policies put in place that make absolutely no sense and only serve as barriers to good customer service.
To answer your original questions, I think no customer service is better. I’m thinking of my Verizon Customer Service Loop of Hell of about five years ago. Thirty-two minutes and five people later, I was frustrated and still had no answer to the simple question: Will my Tivo work with the Fios cable box?
Instead, they talked around it, transferred my call, and then handed me over to a salesperson who said in her chirpy, cheery voice: “Just rent our DVR for $15 a month – problem solved!” As if that would solve anything — the Tivo was new and $300 into it, I had no desire to rent anything.
Good customer service takes so little effort — much less effort than it takes to recover your reputation after a lousy customer service experience hits the Internet. It takes training employees to put the customer’s needs above company policy. It takes thinking like a customer (we’re all customers, so this should be easy, right?), and setting up a customer service experience that negates hassles or at least reduces them to a minimum.
I think you may be right, Lori. The above example I used from LinkedIn got even worse. I’ve given them far too much ink already so I just deleted the whole mess and chose to ignore them. That’s showing ’em! 😀 As IF they’ll notice.
And you’re right. Because we are ALL customers at one time or another, it should be easy to know what constitutes good customer service. Lord knows the bar isn’t set very high. 😉